The present invention relates generally to shipping containers and, more particularly, to fabric shipping and dispensing containers.
Containerization is the method of shipping a large amount of cargo material packaged into large standardized metal shipping containers. The containers are sealed and loaded onto ships, railroad cars, planes or trucks for transport. To avoid inefficiencies caused by the use of incompatible container sizes, standard container sizes have evolved over time through compromises among railroads and shipping and trucking companies, both domestic and foreign. At this time, the most commonly used shipping containers conform to the standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). As such, these containers have one of five standard lengths. For example, United States domestic standard containers are generally 48 ft or 53 ft in length for shipping via railroad or truck, respectively. However, the 40 ft container is the most popular container worldwide.
Despite the improved efficiencies provided by standardization, ISO containers are not without their shortcomings. ISO containers are rigid, and thus cannot conform to fit within spaces having varied sizes or shapes. Even when empty, these containers have considerable weight. For example, an empty, general purpose 40 ft ISO container weighs approximately 8,380 lbs. Given the rising cost of fuel and their size, transporting an empty ISO container can have a significant cost. ISO containers are frequently damaging during handling, and may rust or corrode when exposed to water or other materials. ISO containers are generally purpose specific, meaning each is designed for storage of the particular type of cargo material to be shipped. For instance, general purpose ISO containers are designed to store dry goods, such as boxes, cartons, etc. Also, when shipping plastic pellets or powders, a disposable liner must be inserted within the ISO container to contain the product and changed when a new product is introduced to the ISO container. When necessary to store and transport a liquid, another type of ISO container, such as a tank container, must be used instead. Due to their rigid structure, ISO containers occupy the same space on the transport whether they are empty, partially full or full. For example, if the cargo material is a flowable material such as a liquid or particulate material, the ISO containers cannot conform to the volume of cargo material in the container. Further, such containers are not collapsible to a smaller footprint when empty. Thus, when these empty containers are transported, they still occupy the same space that could otherwise be used for other purposes.
Also, ISO containers are designed to be nontransparent to the casual viewer so as to reduce the likelihood of tampering or theft. However, their nontransparent nature makes these containers suitable for smuggling contraband. Given that a great number of these containers are not opened and inspected upon arrival in the United States, nontransparent containers raise concerns that these containers may be used to transport unauthorized materials.
Thus, there is a need for a flexible shipping container that may store flowable materials, whether solid or liquid, during transport, dispense the materials upon reaching its intended destination, and collapse when empty. It would be particularly advantageous if the shipping container was transparent to X-ray and ultrasonic inspections and had minimal weight to reduce associated transportation costs.